Drifting Into The Abstract
Social Project Brewing

Pretty decent pastry stout overall, with a few questionable aspects.

There's a slight coconut note on the nose, which continues on the palate, for which I cannot quite find the source. The bottle proudly advertises chocolate cream cookies, but says nothing about coconut.

It's also quite bitter and roasty, and a touch metallic, for a cookie-influenced (and cookie-filled) pastry stout. It should drink sweeter, richer, and more decadent than it does.

Certainly not a bad beer, but breweries like Southern Tier managed to make far more decadent stouts than this back before pastry stout was even a thing, and the masters of that style (Angry Chair et al) are far more adept at making it work.

 

500mL bottle received courtesy of Russpowell. No freshness date that I can find

Poured into a Fremont snifter, this was a deep dark brown, virtually black. It conceded nothing when held up to direct flight. Big, creamy looking head, colored somewhere between tan and mocha. Decent amount of tan/mocha lace.

The nose reminded me of oreos, which I expected, and caramel, which I didn't. As it warmed, the caramel aroma became the dominant one.

The taste is pretty well dominated by the caramel flavor. There's a more chocolatey undercurrent, but it's mostly the caramel show. One thing that does not come through in the flavor at all is the high ABV percentage. Drinking too much of this could lead to problems!

Thin but creamy mouth feel.

A particularly sweet take on the pastry Stout style. It's not bad at all, but it's not something I could have repeated pints of were I to find it at a local pub. I kind of feel like it failed in it's primary mission to deliver something similar to Oreos in flavor, as that disappeared pretty quickly. Fortunately, I like caramel. According to the description posted on untapped by Social Project, this is based on a standard imperial stout that they brew. It'd be interesting to sample that base beer. Maybe I'll do that if I ever find myself in Bentonville. Thanks, Russ!

Pours an effervescent ebony with a pinky of caramel colored head. Below average head retention & lacing

S: Oreos, fades a little down the stretch

T: Follows the nose, some toasty coconut notes, & dryness up front. As this beer warms, I a m getting a little saltiness, & some smokiness, plus more Oreos, dryness & just a little booze around the edges. Finishes a little dry with a whisper of booze, Oreos & some salty notes. a detractor

MF: Medium body, delicate carbonation, really thickens up as it warms

This was better on tap last weekend. got more coconut & no saltiness. Still pretty drinkable